Running Away, Returning Home
by otahotian
Summary: "I want to go home." Merlin murmured silently, because what were the dangers of wilderness against the memory of Dancing Skeletons? What were wolfs against murders once and again? What was the gaping hole in his heart, after the death of his friend, compared to the feeling of loosing his sanity? He wanted to laugh so much but didn't. He didn't want to hear himself broken.
1. Despair

**Yay; new challenge. One day=one chapter. Hopefully.**

**Note: I stopped watching the show soon after Morgana got back to Kamelot. It's not one of my favourites either (mostly due to the factual errors when compared to the legend). So this contains no spoilers at all, obviously, unless you are just starting. **

**Place: Kamelot; Wilderness  
Characters: Merlin; Gaius (for now, obviously)  
Time: Eh. Who knows  
Mood: Scared; Insane; Serene  
Warning: AU. Not cannon. Also, I don't like Guinevere. And it might be quite bitter.**

**Enjoy ;)**

* * *

He had messed up again. At least according to Arthur, but he couldn't really help it that he couldn't keep up with the prat's latest wishes. But really; blue shirt, so he had gotten him a blue shirt. But -_oh my_- it obviously wasn't the right blue shirt.

Merlin let his head fall down onto the table in Gaius's kitchen, sighing. And so he had gotten himself sent away again. Not that he minded that much, it gave him the time necessary to catch up on his sleep. That didn't quite work out either.

Gaius tried to talk to him, but Merlin let the words slide past him before he excused himself and ran out. Out of the house, out of the castle, out of the town. He left Kamelot behind himself, feet pounding on the ground and his heartbeat too loud in his ear until he found himself in front of the lake.

Merlin collapsed down onto his back, careful not to look at himself in the smooth mirror-like water.

It was a week after the last try to destroy Kamelot.

A week spent trying to act completely normal and not as if he was breaking. But really, _skeletons_? That was a bit too much for him. But what was the worst.. the thing that didn't let him sleep... were her eyes.

Merlin shivered when he remembered. The hatred.

Every time he passed a mirror he had to look away; too scared he will see the same coldness and burning hate in his eyes as he saw in Morgana's. Because they were the same, weren't they? He had as much of a reason to hate Uther as Morgana did. He grew up without his father _and_ his father died years later, both because of the king. He had to hide himself, day and night scared for his life, because of the king.

But yes, it was his destiny to protect Arthur – from others, as well as from himself. He didn't want the prat to go trough the pain of loosing his father. Arthur wasn't prepared to be a king just yet, either.

She was the darkness to his light; the hate to his love. But what about the sparks of _hate_, the sparks of fire that went trough him sometimes? The burning anger that could be a loathing the same as it couldn't be. He liked the prat. He _loved_ him; the future king. The other part of his destiny. He would give his life for him once and again, he would die thousands of deaths just to save Arthur once, but the anger was there. Every stinging comment, every time the prince looked down at him he just wanted to show him who he was, to scare him to _hurt_ him, just as the words were hurting him.

How was he different from Morgana?

Only her hate was cold, calculated, stable and always, always there.

But what if one day Merlin will look at himself in the mirror and see her eyes on his own face?

He sighed and groaned, head resting in the wet, cold grass as he stared up into the sun without blinking. When his eyes started to water and sting he just grinned and stared on; as if trying to bleach the pictures that had been burned into his eyes.

Time passed and Merlin scrambled to his feet when the sun disappeared behind the forest. It was time to go back to town, as he didn't want to get locked out trough the night. And the forest wasn't that safe in the night time either; not that Merlin was afraid, no. He was mostly numb.

What were wolves against the memory of dancing skeletons? Against a were-animal that he had fallen for? Against murders once and again? Against the first sight he got of the town?

Merlin almost laughed – didn't, he didn't want to hear himself broken – as he sped up into a light jog towards the city. He could run very well, the energy of magic helping him run on and on and on.

It took him half an hour to get in the sight of gates and slowed down, walking smoothly and from shadow to shadow. He slipped trough the gates into the city and was careful not to let himself be seen by anyone who would want to talk to him.

When Merlin slipped into Gaius's kitchen, the elder male looked up from his vials, eyebrows up and almost disappeared into his hairline. "Merlin. Where have you been?"

"Sorry." Merlin tried to give him a believable smile and crossed the kitchen towards the back room, being used as his bedroom. He hoped Gaius will just let him go, but really didn't, he still had something he needed to say.

"Wait, Merlin. Sit." Gaius motioned towards one of the chairs, leaving no space for arguments and Merlin almost breathed in relief. He obeyed and sat down onto the wooden chair, tense and stiff, as a man waiting for his last day.

Gaius took his sweet time to walk around the table and sat down opposite of the young warlock, staring at him.

"What is going on, Merlin." he wanted to know and Merlin had to avert his eyes, reddened by the way he had been enjoying the sun and marred by dark circles.

"I want to go home." Merlin murmured silently, still watching the wooden table. It was covered in burns from Gaius's work and from his own attempts at the same. He could hear Gaius leaning forward, knowing far too well the sounds his bones made with which movement and the chairs were old and creaked at every move.

"Now?" Gaius just said, his voice was softened and silent and oh _god_, Merlin didn't want to leave him. But he needed to leave Kamelot for few nights. Days weren't that horrible but nights.. And after few days with too little sleep every minute was a minute of nightmare, things had stopped making sense quite a long time ago.

"I will ask the king to let you leave for some time." Gaius said just few minutes later.

"Go pack. I will go talk to the king now." he said few more seconds later.

Gaius stood up and briskly walked out.

"Thank you." Merlin said to Gaius's retreating back and sat for a bit longer, staring at the burn he had made two days after he came to Kamelot. Then he stood up and packed, standing ready next to the door in the shadow with his backpack in his hand, waiting for his father figure to come back.


	2. Departure

**Hi, hey, hello.**

**Characters: Merlin; Arthur  
Place: Stables  
Mood: Angry; Irritated; Annoyed  
Notes: Yeah, I know Camelot is with a 'C'; I noticed that mistake as soon as I posted the first chapter and I hereby apologise for such an outrage.  
Warnings: Beware the Fangrils and Fanboys**

**Enjoy ;)**

* * *

Two hours later found him quickly tying his pack to a saddle of his mare. The horse was beautiful and surprisingly took a liking to him, not much caring about his rather questionable behavior during some moments. Usually every animal would run at the slightest sign of anything magical, but this one..

Merlin smiled and patted the horse's neck, carding his fingers trough the long mane. The horse bucked it's head against his palm and snorted, alerting him to a lone figure striding over the courtyard. He looked up and groaned; Arthur. Of course the jerk would bitch at him. Merlin debated mounting the horse and getting away, but he guessed that wouldn't go well with the prince.

"Where are you going?" the crown prince demanded, arms crossed over his chest, right the moment he stood to a stop next to Merlin.

The warlock didn't bother to look up from where he was whispering in the old language to the horse's ear. "I assure you, _sire_, that I have all the allowance required." Merlin rolled his eyes, his voice snappish.

That seemed to wake Arthur from his annoyed mood, growing more curious instead. "So I heard." he frowned, "Gaius said you wanted to go _home_. I thought Camelot was your home."

"Of course not." Merlin sighed. "I am going to visit my mother." he added with a hint of smile.

Arthur pondered it for a moment and than nodded, "Right. Wait a moment. And prepare my horse, I am going with you."

Merlin raised his eyebrow at that and quickly shook his head. "No. No no no no." Arthur blinked in confusion, "Why not?" he challenged.

"I am trying to run from the _insanity_ here your idiot and it's obviously following _you_ wherever you go." he snorted. Well, that was true. The fate was a cruel mistress, indeed. But maybe.. just maybe if Merlin parted his way from Arthur, the dirty plans would come to a stop.

"Ridiculous. The only insanity following me is _you_ you moron." Arthur rolled his eyes at him, giving a long suffering sigh.

Merlin narrowed his eyes at him, something cold and burning flashing trough those and it made Arthur want to take a step back. He didn't, of course. The feeling of intense _fear _crawling over his spine passing just as quickly as it appeared.

"I am taking _holidays_, Arthur. I have no intention of following your funny orders when I am home." he said sharply, edge to his voice.

Arthur raised his eyebrow lazily, "Than I will simply leave you to whatever you need to do." he shrugged. "Now, _please_, if you could prepare my horse while I go get some blankets and clothes?"

Merlin grit his teeth but didn't say anything further, ducking his head in a nod. He listened to Arthur's heavy steps – how could the man even be a hunter with such a heavy walk? - moving further and further away. He padded to find Arthur's horse and quickly untied the knots and led him towards his own

"Aren't you a beauty, you, hm?" Merlin cooed at the animal and scratched it's ear as he tied the letter strings of Arthur's saddle to the horse's back.


	3. Darkening

**Hi hey hello :)**

**Characters: Arthur; Merlin**

**Place: Camelot and wilderness**

**Mood: Sulking; Stalking**

**Time: No idea**

**Notes: Enjoy ;) and leave a note! Also, I apologise for any mistake..**

* * *

As soon as Arthur got back they both mounted the horse without a word. The prince moved his sword from his waist to his back, finding it easier to get it while travelling this way. Merlin gave him a roll of his eyes; swords. Useless.

"What is that look for?" Arthur asked irritably, tidying the knots of his armor over his sides as not to get it to press uncomfortably into his skin.

"I am sure I don't know what you mean." Merlin muttered, leaned forward on his mare to murmur instructions into her ear. He urged her to trot faster towards the gate, letting the animal enjoy it's freedom.

Arthur rolled his eyes and quickened his own pace, keeping up with his younger friend easily. He waved at the guards when they went trough the gate. "Just because you would chop your own arm off with a sword.." the prince mumbled.

"Just because you find it necessary to negotiate with a blade in your hands doesn't make it any smarter." Merlin snapped right back.

"You seem to be even more irritated than usual." Arthur noted.

"Might have something to do with your graceful presence." the warlock shot back at him, having no intentions to stop being irritated.

Arthur narrowed his eyes but kept his mouth wisely shut. There was no use in arguing; they had a long travel in front of them.

* * *

The letter came later than Merlin had expected; they had already stopped for the night and Arthur was just trying to sneak around – very loudly – in attempts of hunting a rabbit. Merlin didn't know why; they had dried meat and some fruit with them, enough to last them for three more days.

The Warlock sighed and murmured a spell under his breath, the wood instantly lighting up with fire. Thankfully Arthur was still somewhere off and his stumping was loud enough for Merlin to know _exactly_ where he was.

He heard the sound of wings hitting against the air two minutes before the messenger bird appeared in his peripheral vision. It landed on his outstretched forearm and Merlin quickly untied the scroll, handing over a small piece of dried meat. He chuckled when the bird almost snapped at his fingers and than whispered a silent words to him, throwing the bird up into the air.

"Arthur!" Merlin called into the woods, rolling the scroll in between his fingers.

Arthur's answer, by the sounds of it, was to let out a string of colourful curses. Well, there went the attempts at getting a dinner. The blond soon-to-be king appeared in the light of the fire just a moment later, scowling. "What now, Merlin?" he asked dryly.

"You got a message." Merlin said quickly before he was forced to listen to Arthur moan at him about scaring off his prey. He threw the scroll toward him and Arthur caught it, quickly untying it and reading trough the neat script.

Merlin watched him patiently, sitting down on a log at the fire.

"I need to go back." Arthur stated after a moment and Merlin had to bite down a smirk. "There is supposed to be a delegation from.." he looked down to see that it wasn't written in there, "..from somewhere. My knights need to be on their best and I need to be there to take care of that."

Merlin nodded to show that he understood, "Well, maybe you should start off immediately." he made a shooing motion with his hand.

"You sound delightfully happy about that." Arthur rolled his head and threw the scroll into the flames.

"Maybe I am." Merlin smirked. "I told you I want to take a break from you."

Arthur gave him a bland look and than sighed. "Right." he said dryly. "I will take off in the morning, travelling by dark is just fine to get completely lost."

Merlin made a face, trying not to show how disappointed he was. Having to spend any more of his time with the prat. And in one place; he _did_ want to travel trough the night. Too bad the letter came so late..

And yes, he knew it would arrive. It was not so difficult to write a short 'official' latter from some long forgotten town that the captain of their forces would like to see how Camelot handled her men. Of course Arthur would be forced to be there for that and when both the king and his son realize that there was no delegation coming, Merlin would be long gone.

He watched Arthur walk around the camp; he seemed nervous, having way too much energy and nothing to do, fiddling with things and throwing small twigs into the fire.

"Go to sleep, prat." Merlin snapped when he watched Arthur play with his bitten apple. "I am taking the first watch." he had no intention of there ever being a second watch, not wanting to wake Arthur up until the dawn.

The prince didn't argue, surprisingly, and curled in a blanket next to the fire and soon was breathing evenly, deeply asleep.


	4. Dawns

**Short, shorter, shortest. That's the intention. I like short chapters.**

**Leave a message, people. And enjoy!**

**((and yeah, it _is_ going somewhere. Not going to remain plotless for the rest of the eternity.))**

* * *

Merlin woke him up as soon as the sun appeared over the mountains on East. He prepared both their horses in the time it took Arthur to mumble about not getting woken up for his watch and watch his face with the water from their trunks.

They both mounted silently, Merlin amused and eager to be traveling fast and without hiding and Arthur worried that the next time he will hear about his friend, it would be from his soldiers carrying a body.

"Stop by at the Oak's Bridge, you should have enough money to get a good bed and food in there." the prince quickly instructed him, hoping for luck.

"You aren't trying to make me 'accidentally' bump into Gwaine, are you?" Merlin made a face at the suggestion, keeping his horse tightly on spot.

Arthur smiled slightly and shook his head, "Nothing accidental about that. But that's the last pub I heard he hadn't gotten thrown out just yet."

"Right.." the warlock sighed, preparing himself mentally for a long journey. Though Gwaine might prove to be quite a pleasant company. When not drunk. Besides, the knight that didn't want to be a knight knew about him being a wizard, so.. "Do I need to get him to sign that I am not traveling anywhere without him?" Merlin asked sarcastically.

"Don't be stupid." Arthur rolled his eyes in true Arthur fashion. He turned his horse and gave Merlin a nod, "Well, see you, Merlin."

"Travel safely, _Your highness_." Merlin waved at him cheerfully and started off in the opposite direction.

* * *

He rode in silence for close to four hours before his body started aching from being forced to stay in the same position. Merlin slid down from the animal and stretched.

Flicking his eyes around, Merlin found himself to be at the edge of a forest. Quite a nice one as well, dark and prickling with heavy energy. There had to be some altar or something, Merlin noted, feeling sudden urge to go and see if he could poke the danger with a stick.

He had noticed that, even before, that the further he had gotten from Camelot, the more places like this there were. Old and full of force that went far beyond his comprehension.

Merlin smiled, letting his magic uncurl from deep within him in answer to the sacred place on his left, but didn't stop walking. He led the horse along the forest edge but never stepped inside, not even letting his eyes wander.

The skies were turning to the most beautiful light blue, sun shining and burning it's way trough Merlin's body to warm him up completely. He guessed that he could get to the Oak's Bridge close to the next dawn if he didn't stop over night. The problem would be to see if his horse would keep up, but he intended to try and see.

The dawn. That meant he will be forced to look _behind_ the pubs and not into them if he wanted to find Gwaine. And he _did_. It was going to be quite fun. And whether they will be taking off instantly or after a day's rest was completely up to the state in which Gwaine will be found.

Merlin chuckled to himself at the thought of dragging completely drunk knight that didn't want to be a knight up the stairs into a lent room.

He mounted the horse and started in a light trot again, eager to get there.


	5. Dwelling

**I completely forgot about everything yesterday.. Very disappointing.**

**Characters: Merlin; Gwaine  
Place: Fictional village in a fictional version of a fictional land  
Mood: Amused; Surprised; Wary  
Time: No idea  
Warings: My English! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The task of finding Gwaine proved to be even easier than Merlin had expected. Of course, the odds of the man _really _being in that village weren't high, only making the young warlock think that it was not really coincidence. But in the end, it was enough to just walk towards where he heard shouting and sure enough, the eccentric knight was there, trying in vain to explain to some temperamental woman that he was not, in fact, trying to sneak out before morning.

Merlin chuckled to himself, watching in amusement as Gwaine got various tools of daily use thrown at him.

It stopped to be funny when the lady appeared in the doorway, holding an empty wine bottle and looking very threatening. Merlin shook his head and led his horse towards the scene, and looking as if he didn't even notice anything going on, walked right in between Gwaine and his lovelorn companion.

Gwaine was, thankfully, smart enough to use that to his advantage even in his hangover state, and ducked lightly to be shielded behind the horse.

Merlin sped up lightly into the crowd and soon they found themselves safely out of the throwing range and he quite doubted that woman would pursue them in nothing but her sleeping dress.

Gwaine, noticing he got saved without even having his skull cracked open, turned towards the supposed stranger with a radiant smile, intending to thank him. His jaw fell down when he saw it was no stranger at all. "_Merlin_!" he exclaimed.

"Who else." Merlin grinned, rolling his eyes when Gwaine sidestepped his horse and engulfed him into a bear hug.

"Where did you loose the mighty prince of yours?" Gwaine wanted to know as soon as he let go of the small male.

He raised his eyebrows at that, "You knew we were coming?" That would mean Arthur sent message to the knight even before they left Camelot. That was.. surprisingly nice. Nicer than Arthur even knew. "Forget it, do you have a horse? We should get out of here as soon as we can.."

"Yeah.." Gwaine agreed, carefully looking around as if he was half-expecting the crazed woman to jump out from some shadow, throwing her shoes at him again. "I do, left him behind the town on a meadow."

Merlin nodded, waving his hand at Gwaine to get him to start on the way.

"So where's Arthur?" Gwaine repeated with his eyebrows cocked.

"He needed to get back to Camelot. Such a _shame_." he shook his head sarcastically.

Gwaine snorted at that, "Did you two have a hissy fit again?"

"No." Merlin leaned to dig his fingers under Gwaine's ribs, making the man yelp and take a step away from him. "There are some delegates wanting to take a look at his knights and he needs to be there for that." he shrugged.

"Aaand I guess he will find himself short on that few delegates quite early, hm?" Gwaine smirked, knowing quite well how Merlin worked.

"Exactly. They will unfortunately not arrive. Maybe because the city they are from was _years_ ago destroyed."

Gwaine mulled that over, for a moment walking silently. They reached the gate both deep in their thoughts.

"So you weren't running away from Camelot only, hm.." the knight mused, "I wouldn't blame you, of course. From what I heard there were some really wild things going on."

"There is a.. sorceress." Merlin answered the unasked question. "Two of them, to be exact."

"Is it save for you not to be there? The king obviously doesn't know, so.." Gwaine shrugged, watching the warlock next to him with curiosity.

"They need some time to get new alliance.. the last time didn't end well." Merlin smiled slightly. Besides.. he had a feeling they were preparing something a bit more complex. And that needed time. The only thing _he_ could do was to study and calm down enough to be able to work with his magic without making himself explode.

Gwaine nodded. "I don't think that sounds very.. calming. Anyway, what are you running away from, Merlin?" he said, suddenly serious and stopped on spot, knowing they didn't need to hurry up.

"Does it matter?" Merlin stood to a stop as well, not raising his eyes to meet Gwaine's.

"Yes." Gwaine said firmly, the corners of his lips pulled into a smirk. "Because if you were running away from Camelot, or even Arthur, we can go visit that village of yours and risk they will throw us out after ten hours."

"Throw _you_ out, you mean." Merlin said dryly, rolling his eyes.

"Doesn't matter." he waved it off, "And if you are running away from having to hide that you are on Uther's black and fire list, I have.. small quest for us."

"I am not sure I like the sound of that.." the warlock said, suddenly quite wary. "Your ideas tend to end up badly."

Gwaine didn't seem to be terribly offended by that, "Nothing can end up badly. Let's find a place to sleep for a bit and I will tell you as soon as we start off."


	6. Decision

**Oh my god, I suck.**

**Two days. Anyway; I _do_ have a good reason (Operation Apelsin; some guy had 18 yesterday and we arrested him as a police for carrying weed, then sold him off to Mafia - which was fun, since the only one operating in our town is Russian, and no one from us knew any Russian at all :D - and since it was raining, I think we all are going to be sick)**

**So yeah.. I hope you will enjoy this short chapter today :)**

* * *

They didn't set off until the late evening, spending the hours with Gwaine snoring on the warm sun and Merlin amusing himself by holding a leave over his face, so that when the knight woke up with his skin two shades darker, he had a leave-shaped light spot over his forehead, nose and cheekbones.

Merlin didn't find it necessary to explain why was he snickering to his palm as they mounted their horses and Gwaine seemed more amused at his amusement than bothered by the fact that he didn't know the reason.

"So what was that quest of yours?" Merlin asked when he calmed down, having to look straight in front of himself not to get sent into a new fit of giggles.

"What have you been smoking and why didn't you share?" Gwaine asked conversationally, grinning widely, even though he had to hide a wince every time the horse moved, the motion sending sharp pain trough his hangover head. "You don't have anything against hangover, do you?" he added hopefully.

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Yes, I do as a matter of fact. Water. A lot of water. And something to eat that is high on fat.. we will stop at the first stream we find, but I can't much help with the food.."

"I was talking more about some handy spell." the knight whined, making a face at the suggestion of forcing something to his stomach.

"I am sure there is some." Merlin smirked. "But even if I knew it – which I don't, since I don't drink – I find it much more funny to let you suffer."

Gwaine groaned, leaning his forehead against his horse's neck. "Evil, you." he mumbled.

The smile from Merlin's face dropped. Evil. It was nothing but a short word. Easy. Easy to say but so, so difficult to understand. He wished he hadn't gotten his fair share of understanding evil. And the memories all came crashing back to him, the boy getting burned the very first day Merlin got to Camelot and his eyes found him in the crowd. He knew. The boy knew Merlin was the same. A tremor ran trough him and Merlin urged his mare to go faster, needing to clear his head.

When Gwaine noticed he sped up and caught up to him, Merlin was as composed as he could. He even managed a grin, "So what's the quest?" he repeated.

"Oh, yes. That." Gwaine rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Shouldn't of told you.." he muttered.

Merlin shrugged, "You were drunk. That about explains all. Now tell me."

"Right. Heard of the steward of Crow Castle?" Gwaine didn't wait for Merlin to answer, already going on, "His son, only son, got lost on a hunt. They say some huge and highly ugly.. something grabbed both the boy and his horse and flew off."

"And he wants revenge..?" Merlin raised his eyebrow, not sounding very impressed.

"No." the knight shook his head, "His son is supposedly still alive and he wants him back."

Merlin nodded, "That does make sense.. so you want to go there, kill the creature and get the boy back?"

"Exactly." Gwaine agreed, grinning. "Sounds fun, doesn't it?"

"Not really.. I am sure the steward has enough knights to do that, don't you think?"

"Yeah.. no one succeeded." Gwaine added, dropping his voice a bit. Merlin perked up at that, so it was probably quite dangerous.. that sounded like a good plan, actually. "So the steward stopped sending men to get his son back, not wanting anyone else to die."

"But if he doesn't want anyone to go after that thing, he won't tell us what it was." Merlin pointed out, gazing curiously at his companion. He had to swallow a snort when his eyes fell over the man's forehead once again.

"He will, because we will tell him that we will succeed. And stop that, you." Gwaine rolled his eyes.

Merlin sighed and shook his head, "As if no one tried that before, you know."

Gwaine gave him a smirk, "Of course they did. But we will tell him we have a warlock."


	7. Design

**Short~ that's how it's supposed to be in this story ;)**

**I was told my stories are usually based on dialogues.. I guess it's true.**

**Proceed! And leave a comment; I am curious as to what you think about how is the story going so far.**

* * *

_Gwaine gave him a smirk, "Of course they did. But we will tell him we have a warlock."_

"You can't possibly be serious.." Merlin gaped at the man, all traces of amusement completely gone from his face.

"Of course I am serious, Merlin. Well, _now_." the knight just shrugged, watching with some unease that Merlin lost his hold on the reins and wasn't even paying attention to where he was going. Thankfully, the horse seemed not to be bothered and was trotting happily in the right direction.

"Look.." Gwaine sighed, trying to wake his young friend from the daze, "He won't do anything.."

"'_Won't do anything_'?!" Merlin's voice was starting to sound rather hysterical; "He will _kill_ me, you bloody idiot!"

Gwain let out a startled chuckle, that had to be the first time he heard Merlin curse. It was kind of funny. "Of course he won't. We will be the only party that actually has some hope of bringing him his son back. Not only he won't kill you, but he will thank the Gods for sending a warlock his way."

"Maybe for some time.. but when his son is safely back? Maybe _he_ himself won't harm us.. but he is loyal to the king of his lands, isn't he?" Merlin raised his eyebrows, shaking his head wildly.

"His land has no king. And before you ask, no, he won't tell Uther or anyone else. He has been known to.. disagree with the authorities."

"Right." Merlin sighed, not sounding very calm just yet. "And what of his people? A word travels faster than the quickest horse.."

Gwaine just shrugged, "No one said we need to tell him our true names. Or show our faces."

"So we will be fighting some creature with _masks_?" Merlin raised his eyebrow.

"Oh stop being so skeptical!"

"Stop being a bloody moron then!" he shot back without missing a beat.

"I am not being a moron, moron." Gwaine rolled his eyes, leaning on his horse's back to poke Merlin under his ribs. "Come on. We will go there, tell him wrong names, save his son and go home. Easy."

Merlin exhaled deeply. "Fine." he muttered. "How is that going to help, though? You said you had something that should help me with the reason why was I running away."

"I did say that.." Gwaine scratched on his unshaven chin, "For one, you will be able to help. And you will go and tell someone that you are a warlock. No hiding. And no fear of getting your head cut off."

"Not sure about the last part.." Merlin mumbled to himself. He found the reins again, having calmed down at least a bit now.

"I promise he won't hurt us. And no one will know our names or faces aside of the king." Gwaine smiled over at the boy.

Merlin mulled it thoughtfully as they rode, the familiar rhythm of horse's walk soothing him. There was something calming about staying completely still, yet be in motion. He ran Gwaine's plan over in his head, realizing there was more things that could go wrong than those that couldn't. And how was the saying? 'Out of four things that could have gone wrong; six went completely, bloody horrible'. Or something. But then again; 'what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger', even though based by experience, Merlin somehow changed it to 'what doesn't kill you, will try to kill you again'.

"It's up to you. The whole plan." Merlin decided in the end. There was no use worrying if Gwaine said it was fine. It should be fine. And if not, Gwaine was to blame and not Merlin.

Gwaine grinned, "Good boy!" he reached, wanting to pat Merlin's hair teasingly, but stopped in mid-motion when the warlock raised his palm, the tips of his fingers alight with small flames.

"But if I end up being pursued as a warlock, you will have to take me with you on your travels." Merlin smirked.

"You sound as if that would be so bad." Gwaine shrugged, raising his eyebrow, "It tends to get lonely after some time."

Merlin smirked even wider, "I don't drink. And can be _horribly_ bitchy when I don't like something. Learned that from Arthur."

"You can't force me not to drink.." the knight paled slightly.

"Hope you will never find out."


	8. Doodling

**Hi. Let me know what you think ;)**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Merlin felt the soft tingle as soon as they neared he town. Just an unease that made him scratch at his skin, trying both to stall and ride faster in anticipation.

Gwaine was leaning limply against his horse, sleeping, as they had been on the road for the past two days, only stopping when the horses needed to rest. It was hard and Merlin swore he will end up falling asleep the moment he sits down somewhere remotely comfortable. But it was fun.

He stopped, two hours of travel from the town gates, pulling at the reins of Gwaine's horse as well. The knight jerked awake, tensing with his palm on the hilt of his sword until he found where he was.

"What's the matter..?" Gwaine asked silently, not knowing whether there was some danger approaching.

"We are almost there." Merlin gave him a grin. "And we should probably have a chat before we burst in."

Gwaine chuckled, "Why? Might be interesting." he shrugged, but slid a bit unsteadily from the horse.

Merlin followed suit, having to lean against the animal when his knees buckled under him. "Oh my.." he groaned, "I hate this.."

"Stop complaining." Gwaine rolled his eyes at him, "It will be much worse. Soon. Do we know what is the creature..?" he asked, tying the reins of his horse to an apple tree.

"Unless you know, than no." Merlin sighed, pulling his horse next to Gwaine's. He slid down to sit on the grass, gazing up at the morning sun. "I don't know anything, aside from what you told me, remember?"

Gwaine sat down next to him, grabbing two apples from the ground. He handed one over to Merlin and took a bite, grimacing at the sour taste. It was quite nice place, he noted. Not very secured, since it was just few steps away from the road. But there was grass for their horses, a bit wet from the morning dew, and the trees that promised shadow if the sun was high enough to burn.

"Don't know much." the knight shrugged, "Heard the boy's mother disappeared few months back. Might be a _striga_..?"

Merlin snickered under his breath, "I bet you said that just because that's the only mystical animal you remember."

Gwaine leaned over and pinched the skin just above Merlin's knee, making the warlock yelp and bat his hand away.

"Besides," Merlin continued, "Striga is a skin-changer. If his mother did get cursed so, she would behave normally trough most of the time."

"You are telling me that it's just a coincidence..?" Gwaine cocked his eyebrow.

Merlin sighed, leaning back until his back touched the cold, wet grass. It was strangely refreshing. "Well, it might be either some creature that liked the taste those months ago and wants another go," he said dryly after a moment, "Or someone is trying to bring the steward to his knees."

"A _conspiracy_? That sounds.. a bit over the head." Gwaine disagreed, shaking his head.

"If his wife disappeared and now his only son, what else does he have? It _is_ his only son, isn't it? Or not?" Merlin turned his head so that he was looking up at the knight, studying him curiously.

Gwaine nodded, "It is. But it's been months.. And conspiracy wouldn't explain why are the knights sent to get him back dying."

"But creature wouldn't explain letting that guy alive." Merlin pointed out. "Whatever it is, if it killed his mother why let him stay alive? And why not kill anyone in the meantime?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Gwaine asked conversationally. "You are the one who learns books by heart."

Merlin snorted again, leaning to kick the man's thigh, "I so do not." he laughed.

"Yes you do." the knight insisted, grinning widely as well. "Not saying it's not useful. Just annoying."

"Annoying? Just because you don't remember your own name doesn't mean memorizing information is stupid." Merlin rolled his eyes, enjoying taunting the knight just as much as he normally would with Arthur. There was something about making the high and mighty knights speechless and flustered with frustration.

Gwaine sent him a sulky look and didn't comment for a moment, before: "Might have something to do with my name being longer than your patience." he said with a dry grin.

"My patience is, my dear friend, unending." Merlin chuckled, "Unless you are blond and a prat."

"Not blond. Last time I looked." Gwaine smiled, "So what about the quest on our hands?"

Merlin sighed, closing his eyes for a moment to run trough the information he had stored in his memory. "I need to know more.." he mumbled. "As much as I hate saying it, we should spend the night in some pub. Buy some drinks, listen to the fellows.."

"Yes!" Gwaine exclaimed cheerfully, pumping his fist into the air. "I will get drunk and you will listen?" he teased with a smirk.

"Moron." Merlin rolled his eyes, "You can't go negotiate with the steward hangover."

Gwaine sighed theatrically, "Right you are. So we get other people drunk and stay sober? Boring."

"But smart." Merlin opposed, raising his eyebrow.

"I never doubted that. Let's wait few hours so that we will arrive in the evening."


End file.
